Tomorrow’s Mexico vs Senegal friendly is a test for 4K

When world football phenom Pele called it “the beautiful game” back in the ’50s, football (or soccer for the US folks) was just barely being broadcast in color.

The sport and the technology to watch it has come a long way since then, going from bulky CRT TVs to insanely thin flat panels that are capable of over a billion colors.

Tomorrow the evolution in watching the beautiful game takes its next step during a friendly between Mexico and Senegal that will be broadcast in Ultra-High Definition.

The game, which takes place in Miami, Florida, will be available to Sony 4K TVs via Univision, the US’s largest Spanish language television network.

This is Univision’s first partnership with Sony and a company called NeuLion, which is responsible for broadcasting 4K streams over the internet and has recently been used by both the NBA and BT Sport to stream Ultra-HD content.

What makes the broadcast special is that it’s a part of a growing trend of 4K broadcasts. It’s something multiple providers are interested in – DISH even has the technology to do so – but until networks get on board 4K content will remain in the realm of online streaming.

The match-up starts at 8 pm ET (5 pm PT) on Wednesday, February 10 and can be viewed on the Univision Deportes App on Sony 4K Ultra-HD TVs.